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Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2022 10:55:31 +0000 (UTC)
From: INSO_AFG_WEST_SA <sa.west@afg.ngosafety.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <AqSLhj5uTsic5rp1jXcjbQ@geopod-ismtpd-6-2>
Subject: INSO =?UTF-8?B?UkVQT1JU4oCTIEFGRyDigJM=?= KANDAHAR: IEA Forces
 Restrict NGO Operations Due To Presence of Women Among NGO Staff
To: "Dr. Sayed Musa Musawy" <musawy@jack.ngo>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN' 'http://www.w3.org=
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enter><table width=3D"580" style=3D" width: 580px;  border:1px solid #C1C2C=
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				This report is for the exclusive use of INSO partners and must not be s=
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									<div><span style=3D"font-size:24.0pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0=
; padding: 0; font-family:'Arial', sans-serif; color:#5376b6">&nbsp;&nbsp;R=
EPORT</span></div>
									<div><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0=
; padding: 0; font-family:'Arial', sans-serif; color:#182748">&nbsp;&nbsp;&=
nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ATTENTION RECOMMENDED</span></div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">LOCATION=
</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<p style=3D"text-align: justify;">Afghanistan, Kandahar Province, M=
aywand District, Multiple Areas</p>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">INCIDENT=
 TYPE</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								Movement Restriction								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">DATE & T=
IME</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								03/07/2022 10:00								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">INFORMAT=
ION</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">On 29 June, in Wolswali Markaz =
area of Maywand District, IEA members prevented female NGO staff members fr=
om entering a clinic providing healthcare services to local residents. The =
IEA forces argued that the female NGO workers were not accompanied by mahra=
ms, and thus in violation of IEA law. The NGO workers then returned to thei=
r main office in Kandahar City. Later, members of the NGO engaged with IEA =
authorities to address the issue.<br /><br /></div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">On 03 July, at a vehicle checkpoint on =
Highway 1 in Hotal area of Maywand District, IEA forces stopped a joint tea=
m of two NGOs including both male and female staff members. The IEA members=
 did not allow the joint team to proceed to the NGOs&rsquo; area of operati=
on, where the latter had planned to conduct surveys. The motive for the IEA=
&rsquo;s refusal to grant access was the presence of women in the NGO team.=
 The NGO workers were allowed to return to their offices in Kandahar City. =
Access teams of both NGOs later engaged with IEA leaders in order to secure=
 access, though as of the time of writing, the outcome of negotiations rema=
ins unclear.</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">ANALYSIS=
</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">The exact rules governing the u=
se of mahrams for female NGO staff members in Kandahar Province are unclear=
. It appears that the IEA considers mahrams to be mandatory for female NGO =
workers travelling in the districts of Kandahar Province. On 28 May, the De=
partment for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice mentioned in a =
decree that female humanitarian workers and beneficiaries must be accompani=
ed by their mahrams when travelling to the field. In addition, district gov=
ernors reportedly warned NGOs verbally on several occasions that their fema=
le staff must have mahrams. NGOs which do not comply, IEA officials said, w=
ill face suspension of their activities.<br /><br /></div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">The fact that the authorities insisted =
on the mahram requirement above all verbally likely accounts for the confus=
ion among NGOs and IEA members alike, and account for the access denials re=
corded above. The exact conditions under which mahrams are mandatory remain=
 unclear as there is no clear, written decree specifying the details of the=
 mahram requirement for female NGO workers. In other provinces of Afghanist=
an, NGOs have applied the mahram requirement in various ways, and have met =
various degrees of restrictions. At the national level, a Ministry for the =
Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue issued a directive on 26 Decembe=
r 2021 obliging Afghan women to have a mahram with them if they travel more=
 than 72 km from home. It appears that this rule does not apply to Kandahar=
 Province, although it does not appear to have been formally rejected eithe=
r. For example, in the other regions, NGOs have successfully negotiated sen=
ding groups of female NGO workers to the field, with at least one of the wo=
men in the group being accompanied by her mahram. The latter could be consi=
dered as the mahram of the entire group. Alternatively, some NGOs occasiona=
lly adopt the practice of sending two or more female NGO workers to the fie=
ld together, acting as mahrams for each other.<br /><br /></div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">However, these initiatives have been me=
t with various degrees of success when encountering IEA forces. The lack of=
 uniformity in the application of mahram rules across the country therefore=
 implies that the experience of NGOs outside of Kandahar Province should no=
t serve as an infaillible guide for NGOs in Kandahar Province. The 29 June =
and 03 July incidents indicate that the IEA in Kandahar Province may be mor=
e reluctant to agree to compromises on the mahram requirement issue. Still,=
 these various NGO experiences might be brought forward by access teams neg=
otiating with IEA authorities, to try and find compromises less constrainin=
g to the NGOs than the systematic use of mahrams.<br /><br /></div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">Lack of clarity regarding the exact mah=
ram rules for NGOs, and irregular enforcement of the requirement, are expec=
ted to continue across the Southern Region. IEA representatives and IEA for=
ces will continue to interpret the mahram rule differently, including regar=
ding female NGO staff workers. However, the fact that two NGOs were prevent=
ed from accessing their field of operation, both in Maywand District and wi=
thin the time span of a single week, indicates that this specific district =
has become less permissive for female NGO workers. Other districts of Kanda=
har Province, and possibly of other provinces too, might follow suit. The o=
utcome of the negotiations between the NGOs&rsquo; access teams and IEA off=
icials, if confirming the strict application of the mahram requirement, wil=
l likely have the effect of emboldening IEA authorities in other districts =
to restrict NGOs and enforce such directives on a wider scale.<br /><br /><=
/div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">The two recorded incidents also raise t=
he question of discipline by IEA members who may be more hostile to NGOs. I=
t is possible that certain sub-units of the IEA continue to act independent=
ly, for various motives such as personal hostility or suspicion against NGO=
s; willingness to demonstrate pro-activeness in terms of policing; or even,=
 plausibly, to try and obtain a financial or material gain &ndash; though t=
his latter reason is highly unlikely to have applied in the abovementioned =
incidents.</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">ADVICE</=
div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">NGO staff should remain informe=
d of the latest announcements by IEA or religious leaders on rules and regu=
lations regarding social interactions and public behaviour, which may be co=
mmunicated orally, and communicate potential risk. It is also recommended t=
o inform INSO, ACBAR and OCHA of any incident or verbal/written communicati=
on received from the IEA regarding NGOs&rsquo; operations.<br /><br /></div=
>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">If approached by authorities, staff sho=
uld always be polite, respectful, and cooperative, and inform their managem=
ent at earliest convenience when safe to do so. NGO staff should also be pr=
epared with the contact details of both local and provincial IEA authoritie=
s who can be called upon for assistance in the event of issues with local I=
EA members. NGOs are also advised to discuss with staff, ideally in dedicat=
ed sessions, ways of de-escalating a potential dispute with authorities.<br=
 /><br /></div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">NGO safety managers should advocate for=
 unhindered humanitarian access for their staff members and ask for the sup=
port of the established humanitarian coordination bodies, OCHA and ACBAR,&n=
bsp; to promote principled NGO project implementation in the meetings with =
the IEA authorities.<br /><br /></div>
<div style=3D"text-align: justify;">Any incidents of hostility towards NGO =
staff members should be addressed with relevant national level IEA authorit=
ies, and through bodies mandated to engage on advocacy, such as OCHA and AC=
BAR, while also informing INSO.</div>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">ISSUED B=
Y</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 0 12.5px 0; border-bo=
ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								SA West, Oscar Janssens de Bisthoven<br /><br /><a href=3D"mailto:s=
a.west@afg.ngosafety.org">sa.west@afg.ngosafety.org</a>								</div>
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lor:#15274B;  ">
								<div style=3D"margin: 12.5px 25px; padding: 0 12.5px 0 0;">INSO SER=
IAL #</div>
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2.0pt; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif; line-height:115%;  ">
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ttom:1px solid #C1C2C4;">
								AFGHANISTAN/SOUTH/R/07072022/#001								</div>
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rial', sans-serif; color:white; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;=
">
				INSO exists to provide dedicated security services to the NGO community=
. As a free service, INSO and its donors or partners, accept no liability w=
hatsoever for claims as may result from the provision or utilisation of the=
se free services. Whilst every effort is made to the verify data, INSO cann=
ot guarantee the accuracy of information provided. Reproduction of INSO inf=
ormation is prohibited.									<br>
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